COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1777, 16 June 1913, Page 8

COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

INVESTMENT SHAKES.-. The sales df investment .shares recorded on Saturday were:' Christchurch Gas' at £7 Its., nnd • Standard Insurance at ■ 30s. 3d. The quotations were as under:— Buyers. Sellers. • £ b. d. £ a. d. National Bank (old) ; 5 2 0 5 3 0 Metropolitan Building ... — 12 9 0 N.Z. Loan i, Mer. (pre!.) 96 0 0 99 0 0 Well. Investment 0 11 3 — Well. Trust and Loan ... 7 4 0 7 7 6 Well. Deposit 0 5 3 — 1 Christchurch Gas 7 10 0 7 lu 0 Well. Gas (£10) ,16 0 0 - Well. Gas (prof.) 10 0 - Christchurch Meat 15 10 0 — Gear Meat (EOs.) 3 3 0 — Union Steam — 2 2 0 Well. Woollen (ord.) 3 10 0 — Ilikurangi Coal 0 13 3 — Taupiri Coal 119 — Westport Coal 17 3 — Westport-Stockton 0 3 4 0 3 9 Golden Bay Cement — 10 3 Slmrland's preference .... — . 12 6 Ward and Co 5 1 6 5 2 6 riG-IRON CRISIS. Tho failure of James Watson and Co., of Glasgow, owing to the fluctuations in tho prices of Cleveland iron, indicates that this firm was running a "bull" account. The pig-iron market exhibits an extraordinary collapse during the past six or seven weeks, as the cabled quotations, which wo give below, -will showsPrice. Date. Per ton. May 9 68s. Od. May 16 70s. 0(1. May 23 71s. Od. May 30 68s. Od. .Tune 6 58s. Id. •Tune 11 555. Od. Juno 13 ~ 545. lOd. Between May 23 oind Juno 13, a period cf thrco weeks, tho price declined 16s. 2d. per ton, equal to over 23 per cent., and this lis serious enough to break many a firm. The insolvency o! James Watson and Co. will not be the only one to be noted in the pig-iron market, and it is not unlikely that the other metal markets will be affected. Tho position is really serious. DECLINE IN SPELTER. . Tho price of spelter has dropped to £22 7s. 6d. per ton, and this attracts attention to the position of supplies, production having substantially increased (luring, the last few years. In 1907 the total production in all countries was 725.771 tons, and after a slight decline in 1908 the total rose to 770,866 tons in 1909; 803,730 tons in 1910: 881,305 tons in 1911; and 955,335 tons in 1912. Messrs. Henry R. Merton and Co.'s statistics thtis show an increase of 75,030 tons in 1912 over the previous year, and a total increaso of 229,564 tons, as compared with 1907. In other words, the production has increased by about 315 per cent, in five yeam The market rose to' a high level in 1911, reaching £27 15s. to £23 in September of that year, this being due, according to the report of the "Metallgescllschaft, to the heavy decrease in stocks brought about .by the exceptionally strons: demand. This was followed by a retrograde movement, duo to incrcwo in production. With regard to tho outlook for production. tho "Jfetallgescllschaft's" review, published last July, stated thnt the high level of prices uaturally acts as a stimulus to the reaction of new spelter works; but apart from the Rotheru Spelter Works, for the establishment of which a Belgian company had been formed, and which would join the spelter syndicate, no definite projects in this direction had becorao known, nor wa« it likely that any new source of production could come into being before tho end of 1913. EFFICIENCY OF LABOUR. Valuable information relative to tho efficiency of labour was imparted to members of tho British Royal Statistical Society last month by tho official who has charge of tile consus of production in England. . It was shown that the net output of few industries is now lcs3 than £50 per head of persons employed, whilst that of 70 per cent, of the industries in, the United Kingdom excecds £75 per head. The number- of workers engaged in establishments coming under the former classification was 59,591, and tho net output was valued at £1,915,000. There were 2,192,258 persons engaged in industries giving a net result between £75 and £100 per head; 1,989,203 workers yielded between £50 and £75 per .head, and 1,353,491 producod between. .£IOO and £125 net, the numbers dwindling until in the class with a net per capita outturn of £200 or over there were' only 244,541 persons. It watt shown that nivirly tho whole of the industries which had not an annual net output of £50 per head of employees did not use machinery, and that in almost every instance in.which machinery was not in operation tho workers failed to reach £100" per head in outturn. On tho other hand, about one-half of the persons employed in establishments using power had an annual output ranging from £100 to over £200 per year. With tho ofrici.il statistics in his possession the lecturer demonstrated that tho cheapness of femalo laborer was in a large mcflowc responsible for the failure to instal machinery in many industries, and that most of the persons employed in tho lowest paid industries were wornon. Commenting on tho figures, the "Statist" remarks that "it is evident that tho low wages paid in a number of industries can be remedied by the application of machinery to production. There is a somewhat common, fallacy abroad that the introduction of machinery displaces labour and tends lo keep down the rntn of wneos. The exact opposite is tho case. The iucrcascd wealth created by the machines provide the mean* of emolojios t&o labour disslwed <it a hii^hc:

rate of pay. The level of wages is governed hy the amount of weulth produced per head, and the greater the efficiency of the individual the higher the rate of wage." CUSTOMS. Customs duties collected at the port of Wellington on Saturday totalled £1459 13s. Id., the amount for the week being £21,390 10s. lid. The returns for each of the past eight, weeks, compared with tho figures for the corresponding period of the previous year, show as under:— 1913. 1912. £ £ April 26 16.050 12,150 M av J 15.172 16.091 May 10 17.123 10.339 May 17 16,644 18,295 Mny 24 12.518 . 11.453 May 31 13.813 10,224 June 7 14.831 15.564 June 14 21,390 10,971 127,541 105,092 The beer duty collected for the past week totalled £304 lis. 6d., as against £222 6s. for the corresponding week of last year. CANTERBURY PRODUCE MARKETS. (By Telegraph— Pres3 Association.) Oamaru, June 15. There is no improvement in the local markets, the offerings of wheat are small, and millers are not keen to buy, having . apparently stocks in hand sufficient for their requirements in-the meantime. The prices paid at country stations have been as follow —Velvet, 4s. net, and 4s„ loss commission; red chaff, 3s. 7d. net; solid straw. Tuscan, 3s. sd. and Js. sid. net anil 3s. Sid., less commission. There is a little more outside inquiry for oats, but it lias not resulted in increased inquiry. A Grade Gart-ons have sold at 2s. 2d. and 2s. 2id. net at country stations, and 25.'4 d., delivered at store; "B" Grade bartons at 2s. lid. net. Cow grass seed has sedd at 8d to 9d. net. Prime oatsheaf chaff has sold at .up to 755. net on trucks. There is little demand for potatoes, the cause being the absence of outside markets, a few odd lots have been sold at 60s. and 655. net on trucks. NATIONAL MORTGAGE COMPANY. By Telegraph—Press Association-Copyright (l!ec. June 15, 5.30 p.m.!< London, Juno 14. The directors of the National Mortgage aad Agency Company of New Zealand have declared an interim dividend of 7J per cent. LONDON MARKETS. (Rec. June 15, 5.30 p.m.} London, June 14. Copra—There is a fair business passing; South Sea. in bags, £28 10s. per ton. _ Hemp—The market is dull. High point fair, June-August shipment, is quoted at £25 ICe. per ton. .Tuto.—Native first marks, June-July shipment.. £29 ss. por ton. Cotton—June-July shipments of American middling cotton are clearing at 6.39Jd. per lb. Rubber.—Fine hard Para rubber i 3 quoted at 3s. 9d. per lb. Wheat.—Russian crop reports are generally satisfactory, and there Is prospect of a fair average yield. Aluminium is quoted at 88s. to 90s.